For this week I chose a series of pictures I took when we went to the coast to beat the valley heat. We hiked to Drift Creek Falls, which was still sunny and fairly warm at 72 degrees. (The valley was in the 100s.) It’s close to Lincoln City, but didn’t get the coastal breeze.

Trail to Drift Creek Falls

Drift Creek Falls bridge

As we were leaving, with the intention of heading to the beach, we saw the fog rolling over Cascade Head and decided to go there instead. There’s a fairly unknown trail at the top that winds through Douglas fir, spruce and alder. This fine Sunday it was awash in either a strange localized rain or massive dripping from the fog-laden vegetation. And windy! Oh, boy, was it windy. At one point I was hoping the trees would remain standing for the remainder of our hike. Still, it was refreshing. Traipsing through the forest in this wild weather was my favorite part of the day.

I’ve always wanted to take the slow photos of running water. I bought a tripod. I slowed the shot down. I also got a darkening filter, which made all the difference. (I never knew they existed.) Here are 3 photos taken at the same time with different settings. Although the assignment was about motion, I noticed the color in the slow shots is a lot deeper and more balanced. I’m sure the darkening filter had a lot to do with it.

If you are interested in settings, click on a photo and they will show up on the slideshow.

I used to have a Pentax MX – totally manual. I used to understand the relationship between aperture and shutter speed. Since getting my DSLR, I’ve been pretty lazy in letting the camera do all the work. I’m just now relearning these things, and it’s a steep learning curve.

Leading lines? Not sure I have the concept down when it comes to nature.

Do these work as leading lines? Stairs going up a hill

Man-made leading lines

More of the stream

Close up of oxalis

I loved the water droplets on the plants

Focusing on taking these pictures caused me to stop and notice all of the new growth.

The rain let up and I was able to head to the county park to take some nature shots. I’m not sure I have the leading lines idea down when it comes to nature, or at all. I’ve taken these type of shots before just because I liked the way they looked. I think I like the idea of perspective from my art class days. I’ll be looking for leading lines now. (Click on any photo to see a slide show.)